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Signing Day 2012: FSU Seminoles Recruiting Class

After earning the top recruiting class last year, and 19 wins the past two seasons, Florida State appears to be on the brink of becoming an elite program again. It's still early, but so far so good for FSU.

The Seminoles have signed the top prospect in the country, defense end "Super" Mario Edwards. The 6'4", 297 Edwards was not nearly the only defensive lineman that the Noles' were able to pull in.

Fellow five-star recruit, and top defensive tackle Eddie Goldman signed his letter of intent today as well. That's great news for Florida State, who knew they had Edwards, and the third best defensive end in the country, Chris Casher. On top of that, they were able to bring in the 10th best defensive tackle, Justin Shanks. Defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. may have been intimidated by Edwards and Casher, because after 14 months of commitment to Florida State, he switched over to the Florida Gators today.

Highly touted quarterback Jameis Winston has committed to Florida State, but has not yet signed any papers, however in an interview with ESPN today, Winston confirmed that he is coming to Tallahassee. "I'm a nole," said Winston in the interview. "I'm coming home Thursday and I am going to talk to my family and I should be signing on Friday, and if not then next Wednesday." Winston has also drawn interest from Major League Baseball teams and is likely to be drafted this year. Winston has said he loves football, and if he comes to FSU, he could play both sports. "June 6th, (MLB draft day) that will be a big decision for me too," he said.

The Seminoles had some protection in case Winston was going to change his mind. They also signed four-star recruit Sean Maguire. Maguire, who committed to Florida State back in June, was under the radar for a while but is now the 13th best quarterback recruit.

As far as skill positions, Florida State brought in the eighth best running back, Mario Pender, who enrolled for classes early and will be practicing with the team this spring. The team was also able to sign the 12th best wide receiver, Marvin Bracy. At 5'9", 168, the Orlando native has already drawn comparisons to Florida Gator speedster Jeff Demps. Both players were track stars in high school, and it seems as if Bracy will be able to use that speed in the return game at first and possibly as a receiver in time. He will run track at Florida State as well.

The Seminoles also locked up the third best inside linebacker in the country, Ukeme Eligwe. The Georgia native was interested in the Bulldogs, but signed with the Seminoles today. Florida State signed the sixth best safety in the country, P.J. Williams. and was also able to snag cornerback Ronald Darby to further solidify the secondary. Darby, who brought a letter of intent to both Clemson and Florida State with him to the podium, ran a 4.31 40 and is friends with Jameis Winston.

Darby is the 10th ESPN top 150 recruit that the Seminoles were able to bring in thus far.

Currently, Florida State has the second best recruiting class, behind only Alabama, despite having nine less commits. Of the Seminoles 19 commits thus far, two of them are five-star and 11 are four-star. Winston, Casher and Shanks are all from Alabama.